URC 2024/25

PMC83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123618818#Comment_123618818

It would be great to add teams like that if they were competitive but unfortunately I don't see that being the case. The URC has largely been on the up since the SA teams joined, I think adding emerging teams is great for the development of rugby but bad for the credibility of the league. We don't need any more teams sitting down at the bottom of the table by Zebre and the Dragons year in year out.

If there were two leagues with promotion /relegation then fair enough

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123620394#Comment_123620394

Yes, but how are teams to bridge that gap into competitiveness without games? Zebre were much better this season, and the Welsh teams have been bottom feeding for the last few seasons. Would it be a massive change swapping a weak Spainish team for a weak Welsh one?

PMC83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123620969#Comment_123620969

Not sure tbh, maybe if was a Spanish team comprised of the bulk of their international players with a foreign star or two bought in? Like Los Jaguares or Sunwloves. Something like that could possibly work. Alas we'll probably never know

phog

A fairly surprising move

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655513#Comment_123655513

the Michael Lynagh connection…..

Ben Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655985#Comment_123655985

The Isabella (Franchin) Lynagh connection ...

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123620969#Comment_123620969

The problem is really that rugby is not very popular in places like Spain. Be great to go for a one-off holiday but you'd be looking at their participation being a loss leader. If the Welsh walk for the English system the URC will be left with a 12 team league which would be much more fair and easier to handle all round

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123655513#Comment_123655513

A very good move! I'm delighted to see the Italians using their heads a bit more in this way

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123656700#Comment_123656700

Wales leaving means a significant reduction in games and thus potential baby' value to sell to sponsors

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123656892#Comment_123656892

If the current format is kept, yes we would go from 144 games to 108 games over the regular 18 weeks. If, however, the 12 team league reverts to a home/away fixture list you would have 22 regular rounds for 12 teams resulting in 132 games. Crucially in that format every team will play every other team twice so much more fair in many ways.

Of course, Wales have been threatening to go for some time now and it's never happened so I wouldn't hold out much hope of that happening on this occasion

Red Silurian

Came across this regarding URC TV

https://harpinonrugby.blog/2025/07/09/official-urc-statement-on-changes-to-urc-tv-service/

Full-season passes will now be available for just €40.

In the Republic of Ireland, subscribers will now be able to watch seven of the eight games in each round live. The one additional game of the weekend can be viewed exclusively live on Premier Sports.

I assume that we will be unlucky enough in that the one game to be exclusively on Premier Sports each weekend will contain either Munster or Leinster. Still though, for €40…

AbusesToilets

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123656916#Comment_123656916

Could the league afford to do a full home and away schedule to SA though?

Ben Bailey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123657006#Comment_123657006

It might mean 4 NH URC teams travelling together / simultaeneously to play SA URC teams at home. If you could schedule 4 games over a 'Super Weekend' then TV would love it.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123657006#Comment_123657006

I'd say so, it's only 2 more than the teams currently do, Europeans go from 2 to 4 games in SA and Saffers go from 6 to 8 games in Europe.

The main catch would be the post-season, you'd really have to limit that to the top 4 as there would be a lot of traveling already

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123657082#Comment_123657082

You'd have to do that to save money above all else... Only catch is then you'd be tying the interprovincials to weekends that probably wouldn't suit

This is all assuming the Welsh will be around for the season of course. If they pull out tomorrow we could have problems

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123657529#Comment_123657529

Its two trips to SA instead of one for every team. And doubling the SA trips to the north. It would be a massive increase in cost. And so much more time travelling.

Could they do it- maybe? But i doubt anyone wants it.

RichieRich_89

I think the travel would be too much for home and away in a 12-team competition without the Welsh.

If they could convince the RFU to let London Irish join they could go to three 5-team conferences. Playing your own conference teams home and away, and everyone else home or away would give everyone the same number of games as at the moment and keep inter-continental travel about the same too.

SA conference: Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Lions, Cheetahs

Irish conference: Connacht, Leinster, Ulster, Munster, London Irish

Scots/Italian/Georgian conference: Glasgow, Treviso, Edinburgh, Zebre, Black Lion

Last I heard the RFU weren't on board though: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/feb/14/london-irishs-attempt-to-leave-english-club-system-set-to-be-blocked-by-rfu

AbusesToilets

There's no universe in which the RFU allow a "foreign" league to poach one of its teams.

OldRio

There is every chance the Welsh will go down to 2 teams. Should they stay or should they go now? (Joe Strummer comes to mind) Who knows.

The URC has been a success therefore the chance the Welsh kiss English arse is high. Rugby doesn't do success. It always finds a way to fail. Of course the EPL and WRU will blow smoke up everyone's arse about the merger. (including their own)

The correct solution IMHO would be an Irish and British and Italian and SA league. Divide it up any way you like. Leagues or Conferences. Try and reduce travel between hemisphere if possible.

As for the European Cups? I'm not sure if it's worth it anymore. The way it's been treat by some of the participants and the organisers it leaves me doubting it's survival long term.

Just some ramblings and half baked ideas. Any thoughts?

Exclamation Marc

I feel that if the two Welsh teams drop off, an idea is to change it to two conferences of seven. Play each team in your conference twice and then each team in the other conference once. That's 19 games which is close to what they play now (18) and then onto the knockouts. Maybe add another league game to catch an extra derby with your 'derby' team in the other conference and remove the quarter final. For the teams outside the top 4, have a couple of playoffs for the European spots.

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658087#Comment_123658087

To be fair, the team doesn't exist at the moment so it's not much of a poach. But I agree it is very unlikely.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658213#Comment_123658213

I don't think SA would be remotely interested in a SA/italian league and it doesn't logistically make any sense at all.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123657718#Comment_123657718

It's 2 extra games in SA for European teams. They could do a run of 4 games over 4 weeks or 2 tours of 2. For SA teams, it's an extra 2 games in Europe.

SA teams currently do 8 games in Europe between URC and EPCR so it's not a massive jump for European teams to do 4 games in SA

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658213#Comment_123658213

If the Welsh go down to 2 you could bring back the old pre-covid Pro14 format. That format was also massively unfair but it would involve European teams going to SA for just 3 games each season

What I'd prefer to see is 4 leagues. The old Pro12, the T14, the English Premiership and the South Africans doing a proper professional job on their own league. The 4 leagues meet in the EPCR, pools of 4, one team from each league in each of the pools

Podge_irl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658490#Comment_123658490

A URC team is not going to do a 4 week tour of SA and the options for 2 week tours without absolute shadow squads are already tight given European and international commitments.

SA teams don't have to worry about the AIs (their players will be heading up there anyway) or the 6N.

Is it doable? yeah, but it is very definitely a massive leap.

PMC83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658490#Comment_123658490

The old Pro 12 was rubbish for the last few years! It'd be a massive hit if the SA teams went off and did their own thing.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658539#Comment_123658539

I think it's more the 6N window that the SA teams don't need to worry about than the AI's but I get what you're saying. A few years ago talk of using PUC for rugby was similarly ridiculed so as the saying goes "never say never"

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658597#Comment_123658597

It would considerably reduce travel and bring new life to the EPCR though

PMC83

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658632#Comment_123658632

Sure, but at the risk of throwing our own domestic league to the dogs. I think there's a balance to be struck, the URC isn't perfect but in terms of product, its far more entertaining then any iteration of the Pro x. Loosing the SA would make for a far inferior product.

Red Silurian

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123658657#Comment_123658657

To be fair, the format of the Pro12 only lasted 5 seasons, It needed much more time I think to really bed itself in. You look at the T14 and English Premiership and you can see there's a large historical element to them.

Which, in fairness, is a good argument to keep the current format of the URC for as long as we can! The less chopping and changing we can do the better. If the Welsh do drop to 2 teams now that the schedule for the year is released it will cause a huge headache

sydthebeat

it would be a huge kick in the teeth to the english championship sides if the prem was to welcome welsh sides with open arms.